Elvis Costello will bring the Spectacular Spinning Songbook to the U.K. and Ireland in May of 2012, performing at The Brighton Centre on Wednesday 16th May 2012.

An overture of five uninterrupted rock and roll tunes announces Elvis Costello and the Imposters to the stage, after which members of the audience are invited to spin the gigantic vaudevillian contraption and select the next song.

Fortune may deliver such hits such as “Oliver’s Army”, “Everyday I Write The Book” and “Watching The Detectives” or land on a “Jackpot” selection such as “Time” and “Girl”, demanding a sequence of songs, each containing these words.

Such career highlights as “Shipbuilding” or “God Give Me Strength” can spin into view alongside hidden gems from the Costello songbook like, “Town Cryer” or tunes by The Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash and, of course, Bob Dylan’s “This Wheel’s On Fire”.

Bolder participants may shake a tailfeather in the Hostage-To-Fortune Go-Go Cage, while the more reserved take a seat in the Society Lounge.

“The Revolver Tour” arrives following an acclaimed run U.S. dates during the Spring and Summer of 2011. The tour was extended three times, due to popular demand, drawing over 10,000 attendees in New York City alone and received rave notices from coast to coast.

Rolling Stone said the show combined, “the kitsch of a game show and lounge act:....when he wasn't singing or slamming at his guitars, Costello worked the stage like a burlesque-club emcee, cracking wise at a mile a minute and spinning a dandy's walking stick.”

Under a by-line, “Singer jams hits, rarities and covers in epic two-and-a-half-hour long show”, another Rolling Stone reported that, “Costello switched from a Fender to a gold Les Paul, howling away and wailing on piercing wah-wah notes. He rocked out even harder to "Uncomplicated," feeding off the energy of a female dancer in the go-go cage shaking maracas.”

The New York Times opined that there was, “no way to keep Mr. Costello’s songs in any shallow entertainment mode. His torrents of words hold desire, rage, wounds and revenge.”

The Los Angeles Times described the show as “the kind of uniquely invigorating experience that warrants a buzzword all of its own; inspiring.”

This acclaim was echoed in review after review:

“Given the gig’s by-pant-seat, chimerical format, Costello’s consummate ability to entertain, his like-wine-aged croon and the band’s master musicianship in meeting him at every step, this was by far one of the most engaging and outright fun shows…” – Nashville Scene

"Unfettered, free-wheeling fun" – Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"The Wheel was the perfect way to shake up a set list with a couple decades' worth of excellent material" – Columbus Dispatch

So far, I am aware of Verbal, Neil and myself having tickets for this show.

Is anyone else planning to make it down to the South Coast for this one, or are you all waiting for the Wheel to reach Bournemouth instead?

Will we see Zoe Ball and or her husband in the audience. Will Brighton resident Steve Coogan be there, prompting Elvis to dust off his version of "Knowing me, Knowing You", or maybe something by "A-Ha"?

Awesome gig. Despite some problems with sound/gear early on (similar happened last time in Brighton at the Dome 2005) I thought EC was in excellent form. Voice warmed up after a couple of songs and was perfect from then on. Good banter with spinners and fairly lively crowd. On feet from "I Cant Stand Up..." onwards. Difford was a nice surprise and "Tempted" was great. Other highlights "Mystery Dance" "I Want You" "High Fidelity". Despite front row seat and 11 year old son with me, didn't get selected for spinning! Can't wait for next one in Nottingham.

Brilliant gig - great atmosphere, the crowd really responsive, though I was snubbed by Elvis when I begged him to let me spin the wheel as he walked past me. "But I'm your greatest fan", I wailed - although of course Verbal, Sulky, John et al really deserve that title.

Best Alison I've heard him do, I think - v tender. Loved Jimmie and Slow Drag - Chris Difford doing Cool for Cats a lovely surprise, and of course, Tempted. Even liked Detectives, which I've heard so often that normally I'm bit jaded with, and I actually really enjoyed 'I Want You', which worked well live, with some great lighting. Great to hear Talking in the Dark, and Elvis played a snatch of 'Do You Know What I'm Saying', which I love, so was gutted when he only gave a verse of it in the middle of 'All This Useless Beauty'.

Good banter between songs - I haven't seen any of the previous gigs and haven't seen anything online, so I imagine a lot of the patter is repeat stuff, but first off, it was fun.

Only lowlights for me were 'Tramp the Dirt Down' - it seems a bit much to go on about Thatcher still, though I take the point about her legacy still having repercussions. Perhaps he should've done it without any preamble. And I felt he botched 'She' - directing it to the on-stage guest so that his back was to half the audience - he should've sung it out to the crowd, and it wasn't a smooth version.

Still, a great, entertaining, energetic gig - the whole show packs a punch which I'm amazed at considering how often they play. Brilliant. Substitute was a lovely surprise, too. And to cap it all, I got to dance with Verbal down the front! MOOT, hope you got the train - me and my friend got it with two seconds to spare! xxx

Good gig. In many ways quite different to the Birmingham show the night before. A lively crowd, some of whom were probably too lively. One spinner in particular, Gaynor, not Jackie, was all over Elvis and Steve, and seemed very reluctant to leave the stage. Of seven spinners, six were female.

The running order was skewed by some technical problem with Pete's kit, which led him and Davey to quit the stage early on while it was fixed leaving Elvis and Steve to do the "Lumley" jackpot, without it being spun. That and the first spin being "Shipbuilding" meant that some of the initial momentum was lost. The wheel works best where the jackpots come up, rather than the individual songs. Elvis knows this, and habitually asks spinners for their favourite song, as well as playing the banner that comes up, which gives him a pair of songs allowing him to pace things better.

The section from "I Can't Stand Up... " to "I Want You" was exceptional. Elvis has two female wheel spinners who could really dance and threw themselves into it, so he gave them something fast to dance to. I Want You was very good with the stage in near darkness for a lot of it. Really effective.

Because "Shipbuilding" and "Oliver's Army" had come up early on as spins, this left "Tramp The Dirt Down" all on its own when we got to it. Elvis was very conscious that standing on the stage at the Brighton Conference Centre, and appearing to wish Mrs T dead was not without risks, so went out of his way to say that he was happy for nature to take its course. His preamble went on a bit, and I think he should let the song and the lyrics speak for themselves, rather than go on about it.

There were some new stories tonight. I had not heard the one about signing Piers Morgan's Head at the Brighton Top Rank. I was impressed with Tempted, which may be a first live performance for EC and the Is and Steve, Pete and Mr Difford did their best on Cool for Cats. Davey and Elvis has clearly rehearsed it, while Steve would be expected to know it from his work with Squeeze. Substitute was good, as was Beyond Belief. These are the sorts of songs, that I can remember pining for in years past during Elvis' UK Tours with the Brodskys, the Sugar Canes and on his own. Rock and roll songs, delivered by a rock and roll band.

Monkey To Man, was dedicated to Pete Thomas and his father Phil, who was in the audience, Pete being a local Brighton lad apparently (when not living in the US of A).

For a conference centre, the acoustic was very good, and I could hear every word. Elvis tried singing "off-mic" a couple of times, to some effect. As this was a sea-side venue, the "society lounge" on stage was stocked with candy floss and sticks of rock, that no one seemed to want to eat.

I did catch the train that Neil and his friend were also running for, but without a stop at the Offie.

Another terrific gig. Terryhurley and MOOT have covered it well. And this time MOOT and myself didn't talk about the gig afterwards so it's all his own work. Unless he's stolen the words from someone else

It was a bit odd to start with. The stage was some distance away from the front row where I was sat.

Elvis was in good (and sarcastic) humour and his voice is benefitting from having a day off after a couple of shows.

And this evening's observations...

1. As terryhurley rightly pointed out, Elvis seems to have some sort of technical problems when he plays Brighton. At the Dome in 2005 he said he'd returned when they had electricity. Last night Elvis' amp had a problem and at the same time there was a problem with Pete's bass drum. This led to the unscheduled She and Talking in the dark and the mildly irritating Gaynor, who Elvis picked out whilst walking about. Whilst she was clearly a fan, she more than milked her moment and didn't leave the stage after her spin. Elvis made a couple of comments. Indeed when she and the young spinner, Dan, left the stage, Elvis gave them both a stick of rock (candy). He shook Dan's hand but didn't hug, kiss or shake Gaynor's hand.

2. Dan wanted to hear All this useless beauty and it came up as a joker choice) incorporated a couple of verses of Do you know what I'm saying? before going back into All this useless beauty.

3. Chris Difford coming on stage was excellent. And he got to go in the cage again (he did so at the Royalty Theatre in 1986). They did a great version of Tempted which I think Chris was surprised about before Elvis asked Chris to sing one. Chris sang Cool for Cats. Both Steve and Pete played with Squeeze at the same time so it shouldn't have been to hard for them to learn!

4. There were 2 ladies who spun I've been wrong before and Cash. They were very game.

5. Following Cry, Cry, Cry Elvis played I can't stand up. I think he sensed that whilst this was a good audience, they were too far away. After urging everyone to stand up I went to the front of the stage and started dancing with one of the spinners who was clearly a fan. I was then joined by Neil. From this point up until I want you, the two ladies were on stage. One of them suggestively danced with Elvis and Catalina kept a close eye. When the young lady went back towards the cage, Elvis gave a smile. I don't think he was smiling too much when she was dancing close and up against him

I spoke to the other spinner after the show. I asked her if she enjoyed her extended stint on stage and she said she was dying to get off because her feet were hurting so much!

6. During the solo encore, there were people next to me who were talking which would have been clearly audible to Elvis. He dispensed with the whistle solo in A slow drag....

7. During Tramp the dirt down, there was somebody very irritating next to me who kept saying "go on son", to Elvis which again was very irritating to those around us.

8. I think Elvis would have lost the momentum he had built had he played Jimmie straight after so he played Alison solo. Somebody shouted Alison when he came out. Elvis replied he was going to play it in a minute. He played it tenderly and with no additions.

9. The final stint was rocking. Substitute was a great bonus. I thought he might slip in Kids are alright but he bettered that.

All in all another great show and again, they were very versatile, adapting the set to keep the show going.

I've resigned myself to the fact hat being the complete opposite to a white, attractive female means there is no chance of me being picked to spin the wheel. That's the end of my Elvis week - 100 miles in my car and almost as many songs! Three, and a good chance of four shows next week I think I managed to persuade Neil. and little triggers before the show to come to the RAH on Thursday. After last night I'd be amazed if they didn't!

Neil. - I take it that "to cap it all I got to dance with verbal down the front", you mean that in a good way!

Neil. - I take it that "to cap it all I got to dance with Verbal down the front", you mean that in a good way!

Absolutement! We gave the go-go dancers a run for their money, I thought!

Yeah, the bloke right next to me kept bellowing stuff, but he was excited, bless him! He was explaining the songs really loudly to someone who looked like his nephew or summat. He should've refrained in the quieter songs.

By the way, Fatboy Slim was there, as MOOT predicted, though I didn't see Zoe Ball. And LOL, MOOT:

I did catch the train that Neil and his friend were also running for, but without a stop at the Offie.

...you'll be glad to know I managed to get a coupla pre-mixed vodka cranberry cans for me and my friend. God, my reputation for being a total alkie on this board gathers pace!